Has Scott Coker Put The Final Nail In Bellator’s Coffin?

Just in case you missed the epic Bellator 123 brawl, here it is again^^

The news that Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney was being axed was welcomed by MMA fans on the most part. Rebney had seemingly driven the tournament in to the ground, with WWE style showdowns between UFC has-beens and terribly scripted stare down drama. It was tiring trying to give BMMA the time of day with all their shenanigans, which was a shame because there is some top talent in the promotion.

Even with Donald Cerrone Official For UFC 178 Co-Main Event” href=”https://www.lowkickmma.com/UFC/eddie_alvarez_vs_donald_cerrone_official_for_ufc_178_co_main_event_303766/”>Eddie Alvarez jumping ship to fight a “Cowboy”, Bellator still has some really good fighters to show off. Then came Bellator 123 last night (Friday September 5th, 2014). The event itself, as far as the fights, went off quite well. Tamdan McCrory knocked the living daylights out of Brennan Ward in the evening’s best finish, and the main event was a very entertaining do-over of Patricio “Pitbull” Freire and Pat Curran.

So what’s all the negativity about? Well, new Bellator boss and former Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker came in to the job with big expectations. Firstly he dropped the tounament format, and then he revived the featherweight division for the women. Hands down, a pretty good start for Coker. And then came the Bellator 123 brawl and, man, it was bad.

Just when we thought that the BS theatrics and silly match-ups might go out the window, newly signed ex-UFC veteran Stephen Bonnar and Tito Ortiz was made official for November. OK, we can deal with that, right? Although it really has no significance of any kind, it’s probably going to be a fun fight at the least. Bellator decide to have an in-cage face off, and why not? They are two very well known faces in MMA, and have extensive UFC records.

For some reason, Bellator then decided to put a man with a trash bag in the cage with Bonnar and Ortiz during their encounter at Bellator 123 (and I’m honestly still confused as to who the hell that guy is), and to have Jenna Jameson’s name thrown in to the mix. Obviously still heart-broke, “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” reacts by saying “You just made this personal”, before lashing out at Bonnar and being ‘restrained’.

I know what you’re thinking, the UFC has these types of dramatic back stories too, but they are slightly more subtle in their approach. Admittedly it can get frustrating following pointless feuds in the UFC, but Bellator really takes the biscuit. It was almost insulting watching Ortiz and Quinton Jackson ‘square off’ when their fight was announced for BMMA, but the pro-wrestling show that went down at Bellator 123 was cringe worthy to say the least.

So what the heck is Coker doing? He started off on the right foot, but just blew our minds with this pointless show of amateur dramatics. If he is planning on taking BMMA in the direction of a pro-wrestling style promotion, he might be on to something. Is that really what anyone wants to see now though? The Bellator 123 brawl is another smear on the promotion’s name, at least in my opinion, but what’s your take? Has Scott Coker put the final nail in the coffin of Bellator MMA, or will he front the promotion to a new era of combat sports entertainment?